Publication And Reception In The United Kingdom
Bloomsbury accepted the book, paying Rowling a £2,500 advance and Cunningham sent proof copies to carefully chosen authors, critics and booksellers in order to obtain comments that could be quoted when the book was launched. He was less concerned about the book’s length than about its author’s name, since the title sounded like a boys’ book to him and he believed boys preferred books by male authors. Rowling therefore adopted the pen nameJ.K. Rowling just before publication.
In June 1997, Bloomsbury published Philosopher’s Stone with an initial print run of 500 copies in hardback, three hundred of which were distributed to libraries. Her original name, “Joanne Rowling”, can be found on the copyright page of all British editions until September 1999. The short initial print run was standard for first novels and Cunningham hoped booksellers would read the book and recommend it to customers. Examples from this initial print run have sold for as much as US$471,000 in a 2021 Heritage auction.Thomas Taylor created the cover for the first edition.
9+34, from which the Hogwarts Express left London, was commemorated in the real-life King’s Cross railway station with a sign and a trolley apparently passing through the wall.
Chapter : The Potions Master
- “Ah, yes. Harry Potter. Our new celebrity.”
- Severus Snape.
A Potions book
Harry finds life at Hogwarts unfamiliar and strange. Everyone talks about him, and an adult always seems to be around when he is doing something wrong. Harry finds all the classes interesting, with the exception of History of Magic. In the first Transfiguration class, only Hermione is able to make any progress at turning a match into a needle. Harry is relieved to see that his peers are just as lost as he is.
Harry Potter And The Philosophers Stone
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Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, also called Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, the first in the immensely popular Harry Potter series by British writer J.K. Rowling. It was first published in Britain in 1997 and appeared in the United States the following year under the title Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. The books imaginative story line about a boy wizard made it an enduring hit with both children and adults.
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Is It Any Good
There are two kinds of magic in this phenomenal boy-wizard tale, the literal spell kind and the spell cast by a thrilling world for young fantasy readers to explore. While Harry Potter and his new friends Ron and Hermione get their first lessons in potion making and how to make a feather fly , readers are getting lessons in delightful ideas like owls delivering the post, secret train platforms, pictures and staircases that move, sports played on broomsticks, and even odd-flavored jelly beans. Readers will want to grab their owl, cat, or toad and hop on the train to Hogwarts immediately.
But it’s not all fun with flying broomsticks. Harry Potter isn’t called the Boy Who Lived for nothing. He’s an orphan because an evil wizard killed his parents and wanted to kill him, and that evil still lurks at the school. As Harry, Ron, and Hermione uncover a plot to steal the Sorcerer’s Stone of the title, more and more school rules must be broken to figure out who the enemy at school really is. Readers will enjoy the twists, danger, and kid wizard heroics that drive the final action.
Gamecube Playstation 2 And Xbox Version
A new, separate game Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was made for newer consoles in 2003 by Warthog Games, 2 years after the original versions. Its gameplay differed greatly from the other versions, followed the film far more closely than the other games, though it was criticised for reusing the spells and world map from the Chamber of Secrets version of the game.
At school, Harry begins his training as a wizard and learns more about his past. After retrieving a remembrall while riding on a broomstick, for his classmate Neville Longbottom, Harry is appointed seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
Harry, Ron and Hermione believe that one of their teachers, Professor Snape, is planning to steal the Philosopher’s Stone, a magical object which grants the user immortality, and set out to stop him. The three face a series of obstacles that protect the stone, including a three-head dog, surviving a deadly plant, catching a flying key, playing a life-sized game of Chess and choosing the correct potion to get through a magical fire. Harry, now alone, expects to face Snape but instead finds Professor Quirrell, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Quirrell removes his turban and reveals that Voldemort was living on the back of his head. Harry retrieves the stone and Voldemort tries to get it from him but touching him burns Quirrell’s skin. Harry passes out from the struggle of the battle.
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Chapter : The Vanishing Glass
- “Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel – Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.”
- Description of the Dursley’s son.
Dudley counting his presents
It has almost been ten years since the Dursleys awoke to find Harry Potter lying on their doorstep. Privet Drive and the Dursleys’ house has not changed since that day. The only difference was the pictures of Dudley Dursley‘s aging. There is no sign that Harry lives there. However, in the cupboard under the stairs, Harry indeed sleeps. Petunia comes to his door and wakes him with a shrill voice.
Harry is trying to think about the dream he had been having. It was about a flying motorcycle, and Harry thinks he had the same dream before. Aunt Petunia tells him to make bacon, as she wanted everything special for Dudley’s 11th birthday. Harry dresses and goes into the kitchen where the table is covered in Dudley’s presents. Harry thinks that because he lives in a cupboard, he is small and skinny. All he has to wear are Dudley’s old clothes.
Dudley comes in and begins to count his presents, only to find 37, which was one fewer than the year before. Aunt Petunia states they are going to buy him two new presents while they are out. Vernon tells Petunia that Arabella Figg, the next-door neighbor, has broken her leg and cannot take Harry when they go to the Zoo. They can’t think of anyone, so Harry has to go with them.
Great Book Done Justice By A Great Narrator
I read each Potter book with huge enjoyment within days of the publication of each. I listened to the Potter series years ago when they first came out on CD. These wonderful stories are done full justice by Jim Dale, whose narration compliments Rowling’s lovely characters perfectly. I am so delighted that Rowling has finally allowed the digital versions to be sold on Audible as the cost of them through her website was ridiculous. At any rate, if you have not listened to Harry Potter – even if you’ve read it and seen the films – you will be introduced to Harry, Ron, Hermione and all the denizens of Hogwarts in a different way when you listen to The Sorcerer’s Stone. I can’t seen any point in recapping the plot because I just assume everyone has read at least the first two of these books, but I can tell you that listening to them is an “immersive” experience. Of course, that’s true of any book, but the richness of Rowling’s characters, settings and situations are brought to life, in my opinion, in an entirely different way when you listen to Jim Dale read them to you. If you already love and appreciate the Harry Potter series, you’ll rediscover it when you listen. If you have NOT yet read any Harry Potter… my condolences. If you listen, you may discover what you missed!
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Chapter : The Sorting Hat
- “If only the hat had mentioned a house for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for him.”
- Harry, about the Sorting Hat.
Peeves dropping stuff over the new first-year students
The new students are greeted at the castle door by Professor McGonagall, who tells them they’ll soon be sorted into their houses. All Hogwarts students live in one of four residences: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. And each house has its own team for Quidditch. The houses are in a yearlong competition with one another to acquire the most points, which are earned by success in Quidditch games and given by teachers for academic achievement, and lost for student infractions, in order to win the House Cup awarded at the end of the year. As the students enter Hogwarts, ghosts appear in the hallway. The students are led to the Great Hall, where the entire school waits for them. They see an old pointy hat on a stool. When the students try on the Sorting Hat, it announces the house in which they are placed. Harry becomes very nervous. He has learned that he does not care for Slytherin house, as the students in it are unpleasant and Voldemort once belonged to Slytherin. Finally, it is Harrys turn to wear the hat. After a brief mental discussion with the hat in which it tries to suggest Slytherin to him, the hat places Harry in Gryffindor. Harry is pleased to find that he is joined in Gryffindor by Ron and Hermione. Draco Malfoy is placed in Slytherin.
Chapter : Diagon Alley
- “Harry wished he had about eight more eyes. He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping.”
- Harry at the Diagon Alley.
Ollivander’s Wand Shop
When Harry wakes the next morning, he tries to tell himself that what happened the previous night had all been a dream. He tried to convince himself that Hagrid taking him to a school for Wizards called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had never happened. But when he opens his eyes, Hagrid had fallen asleep on the couch and he found that it had all happened. He hears a tapping noise coming from the window and lets in an Owl. The owl drops a newspaper on Hagrid’s lap and begins to claw Hagrid’s coat.
Hagrid tells Harry to pay the owl so Harry does what he says and the owl leaves. Hagrid tells him they have to go and buy his things, but Harry worries because he hasn’t got any money. Hagrid tells him his parents didn’t leave him with no money, and that their first stop was Gringotts, the wizards bank. He explains that it is run by Goblins and that you’d be mad to try and rob it. Hagrid says Dumbledore is needing something from Gringotts, so Hagrid has to go get it.
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Design And Special Effects
Judianna Makovsky served as the costume designer. She re-designed the Quidditch robes, having initially planned to use those shown on the cover of the American book, but deemed them “a mess.” Instead, she dressed the Quidditch players in “preppie sweaters, 19th-century fencing breeches and arm guards.” Production designer Stuart Craig built the sets at Leavesden Studios, including Hogwarts Great Hall, basing it on many English cathedrals. Although originally asked to use an existing old street to film the Diagon Alley scenes, Craig decided to build his own set, comprising Tudor, Georgian and Queen Anne architecture.
Columbus originally planned to use both animatronics and CGI animation to create the magical creatures, including Fluffy. Nick Dudman, who worked on Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, was given the task of creating the needed prosthetics, with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop providing creature effects. John Coppinger stated that the magical creatures that needed to be created had to be designed multiple times. The film features nearly 600 special effects shots, involving numerous companies. Industrial Light & Magic created Lord Voldemort‘s face on the back of Quirrell, Rhythm & Hues animated Norbert and Sony Pictures Imageworks produced the Quidditch scenes.
Chapter 1: The Mirror Of Erised
- “The Potters smiled and waved at Harry and he stared hungrily back at them, his hands pressed flat against the glass as though he was hoping to fall right through it and reach them. He had a powerful kind of ache inside him, half joy, half terrible sadness.”
- Harry looking at the Mirror of Erised.
Harry observing the Mirror of Erised
Christmas is approaching. Malfoy teases Harry about having to stay at Hogwarts for the holiday, as he does not have parents. Harry, however, is looking forward to spending Christmas away from the Dursleys, especially because Ron is also staying at Hogwarts, as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were going to visit Ron’s older brother Charlie in Romania. The day before the holidays, Hermione tears Ron and Harry away from a conversation with Hagrid to look in the library for more information about Nicolas Flamel. The librarian, Madam Pince, catches Harry prowling around the restricted-books section of the library and kicks him out.
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Book : Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone
When it hit shelves: June 30, 1997
What happens in the book: After murdering Harry’s parents, James and Lily Potter, evil Lord Voldemort puts a killing curse on Harry, then just a baby. The curse inexplicably reverses, defeating Voldemort and searing a lightning-bolt scar in the middle of the infant’s forehead. Harry is then left at the doorstep of his boring but brutish aunt and uncle, the Dursleys.
For 10 years, Harry lives in the cupboard under the stairs and is subjected to cruel mistreatment by Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and their son Dudley. On his 11th birthday, Harry receives a letter inviting him to study magic at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Harry discovers that not only is he a wizard, but he is a famous one. He meets two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and makes his first enemy, Draco Malfoy. At Hogwarts the three friends are all placed into the Gryffindor house. Harry has a knack for the school sport, Quidditch, and is recruited onto the Gryffindor team as its star Seeker.
Perusing the restricted section in the library, Harry discovers that the Sorcerer’s Stone produces the Elixir of Life, which gives its drinker the gift of immortality. After realizing that Voldemort might be after the stone, Albus Dumbledore had it moved it to Hogwarts for safekeeping.
The Players:
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Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone
New York: Arthur A. Levine Books – Scholastic, 1998. First American Edition.A Near Fine copy of the book in like jacket. Spine a bit cocked and book showing minor wear, but unmarked without previous owner’s names or bookplates. In a very attractive jacket with all first issue points. Overall, a respectable copy of a book that reshaped popular culture. This first print run was limited to 30,000 copies. Later volumes in the series had initial print runs that soared into the millions. Initiating Rowling’s now-classic series, Sorcerer’s Stone introduced Harry Potter and the wizarding world to muggle readers across the U.S. Released soon after the British first edition titled Philosopher’s Stone, the novel follows the orphan Harry as he discovers the truth about his parents, leaving the abusive home of his aunt to begin his magical training in the hallowed halls of Hogwarts School. Alongside new friends Hermione and Ron, Harry begins to realize that not all is as it seems, and that evil forces will soon require him to be a hero. Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket.
Price: $2,950
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Chapter : The Midnight Duel
- “We could all have been killed – or worse, expelled. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to bed.”
- Hermione complaining about their “adventure”.
Harry and Ron entering the Gryffindor common room
Harry has been going to Hogwarts for around 2 weeks when he finds out that the Gryffindors will have flying lessons with the Slytherins, because he does not want to spend more time with Malfoy. However, Harry finds that he is quite a natural at flying. Madam Hooch leads the class, gently sending the new fliers off the ground. Neville has an accident when his broom becomes amok and breaks his wrist. Madam Hooch takes him to the hospital, telling everyone to stay on the ground while she is away. Malfoy notices a Remembrall belonging to Neville, picks it up, and begins to fly around with it. Harry goes after Malfoy, who throws the ball in the air. Harry catches it spectacularly and lands safely back on ground. Just then, Professor McGonagall arrives, reprimanding Harry and ordering him to follow her. But instead of punishing him, McGonagall introduces him to Oliver Wood, captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, explaining that Harry will make an excellent Quidditch player.